PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 3
James Hastings · 1,187,003 words · 1191 reading sections
Section 481
(c) 6'-78, which consist of three short addresses (61-8 6°28 71-6), whose original context, however, is doubtful, might, so far as their contents are con- cerned, proceed from Micah. They present J”’s controversy with His ungrateful people, the pro- phet’s denunciation of the people for the unright- eousness which mark…
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A brief reference may further be made to Mic 6"-, which are not only marked by a depth and a moral earnestness, but also interpenetrated by an intensity of genuine feeling such as are scarcely paralleled elsewhere. These verses likewise have a point of contact with Amos, in so far as in them the thought is emphasized t…
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uestion. The account of Jos. (Ant. vill. xv. 4) adds that Zedekiah sought to refute Micaiah’s prophecy by appealing to the prediction of Elijah (1 Kk 21%), who had foretold that the dogs should lick Ahab’s blood in Jezreel ; and that Zedekiah also challenged Micaiah to wither the hand that smote him, as had been done i…
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ἃ, Micaiah (>> [Keth.], M(e)cxalas or Μιχέας ; AV, RVm Micah) the Morashtite in Jer 2618 is the same as the canonical prophet MICAH (wh. see). 5. Micaiah (33>, M(e)cxalas or Μιχέας, AV Mich- aiah) the son of Gemariah (Jer 36" 18) was one of the nobles of Judah in the days of Jeremiah. In the fifth year of Jehoiakim he…
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iii. Michael seems also to have been regarded as the medium through whom the Law was given. This is clearly stated in the late Apocalypse of Moses I: Aujynots . . . ἀποκαλυφθεῖσα. . . Μωῦσῇ . . . ὅτε Tas πλάκας τοῦ νόμου τῆς διαθήκης ἐκ χειρὸς Κυρίου ἐδέξατο, διδαχθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀρχαγγέλου Μιχαήλ. Most probably, therefor…
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Michal; though the historian characteristicall sees in her childlessness a punishment for that ill- omened outburst of spleen on the most glorious day of David’s life. The Chronicler omits, as usual, the painful incident, except 2 S 6". It remains to add that in 28 218 ‘Michal’ is an ancient but obvious mistake fo…
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Benjamin was now in peaceful possession of Michmash, and there is no further record of it until the time of the Assyrians’ threatened march on Jerusalem in the reign of king Hezekiah, spoken of by Isaiah (10%). Sennacherib is de- picted as coming along the northern road from Samaria against Jerusalem, along the backbon…
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his was at one time occupied by a monastery. See SWP vol. iii. sheet xviii. C. R. CONDER. MIDDLEMOST, MIDLAND.—The Heb. word ji" tikhon, usually translated ‘middle,’ is rendered *‘middlemost’ in Ezk 4255. The tr. comes from Coy., and RV retains it. Cf. Jer. Taylor, Works, ii. 65, ‘Truth hath a mysterious name, .. . it…
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Due regard must also be had to the fact that the accounts of the Midianites are derived from different sources. The chapters which refer to Jethro are assigned to JE, and Nu 25% 8 and 31 to P. Nu 811 states that the action of the Midianites described in 25%!8 was prompted by the counsel of Balaam. In the account of Bal…
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Other considerat\yns in support of this view may be briefly Indicated :— MIDWIFE (1) The poetical references to Sinai, Dt 332, Jg 54 5, Hab 38, imply that the writers regarded Sinai and Seir as contiguous. (2) The geographical note (Dt 1) and the account of Elijah’s visit to Horeb (1 K 19—the only visit recorded in …
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MIGDAL-EDER.—See Eber, No. 14. MIGDAL-EL ($x$un; B Μεγαλααρείμ, A May- δαλιηωράμ, the following name Horem being incor- porated).—‘ The Tower of God,’ a town of Naph- tali (Jos 1938) between Iron and Horem. he exact site is uncertain, though Eusebius (Onom. s.v.) places it between Dora (7 απέϊγα) and Ptole- mais (Acre…
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Upper Egypt). the ΝΟΣ 368 MIJAMIN Philol. 18, 62{f.) to identify with the Migron of 1S 14%, south of the Wady Suweinit, by supposing that the Assyrian, before marching through the pass, is pictured as seizing by a coup-de-main this yosition at its southern end. This is accepted by Driver (Isaiah, p. 72), but Dillmann…
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Thus, in modern times, a messenger could easily be sent by land straight north from Miletus to Ephesus. But in ancient times a foot-messenger would have to make an immense circuit: for ex- ample, he would have to traverse about 110 stadia from Miletus to Heracleia, and 100 from Heracleia to Pyrrha, whereas the sea-cros…
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VOL. III.—24 MILL, MILLSTONE 36S this hole the grain to be ground is thrown, and it escapes as flour between the two stones at the circumference, and falls on a smooth sheepskin which is placed under the lower stone. On the surface of the upper stone, near its circumference, SECTION OF HAND-MILL, the handle is inse…
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As thus defined, the doctrine of the Millennium is not found in OT. The prophets look forward to a state of blessedness and glory for Israel, to be introduced, either by the advent of J” Himself (Is 409-11 527-12), or of the Messiah (Is 9°, Zec 91°). This state is variously described—sometimes in language which require…
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Lehre von Jenseits,’ Jahrb. Prot. Theol. 1879, ii. ; Fr. Spiegel, art. *Parsismus,’ in Herzog, RE?; Jackson, ‘The AncientPersian Doc- trine of a Future Life,’ in Biblical World, 1896, pp. 149-148. For MILLENNIUM In the later Jewish Apocalypses, as in Talm., we find the limitation of Meine kingdom clearly set forth: t…
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The doctrine of the Millennium is set forth in NT in clear terms only in Rev, where it constitutes ‘the most easily recognizable dogmatic peculiarity’ (Holtzmann, Hdcom. iv. 319). It is here taught that after the victory of the Messiah and His army over the beast and his army, and the destruction of the latter with the…
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Millenarian views were common, though by no means universal, in the early Church. They meet us in gross form in Papias, who quotes as a genu- ine word of Christ a prediction, generally agreeing with Apoc. Bar, concerning the remarkable fer- tility of the vine in the millennial kingdom (Iren. adv. Her. v. 33 ; cf. Euseb…
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In the West, Chiliasm was longer lived. Here the doubts as to the authenticity of the Apoc. found little hearing. Commodian (Inst. adv. Gent. deos, 43, 44) and Lactantius (/ns¢. vii. 24) were pro- nounced Chiliasts. Victorinus of Petau is so claimed by Jerome, although his commentary on the Apocaly se shows no trace of…
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gun by David; for we learn from 1 Καὶ 9% #4 (and especially 1157 ‘Solomon built [the] Millo and shut in the ravine [RV ‘repaired the breach’) of the city of David’), that the actual building was carried out by his successor. The Millo is men- tioned again as forming an important part of the defences of Jerusalem in 701…
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The other antithesis is when the apostle takes νοῦς for deliberate, reflective consciousness—its proper sense—and contrasts it with πνεῦμα in the sense of afflatus or unconscious impulse coming from without or above (1 Co 14-12%), See, further, next art. and PSYCHOLOGY. J. LAIDLAW. MIND.—The verb to ‘mind’ is both tr…
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The whole passage, though couched in poetic language, shows us that the processes of mining nearly 2500 years ago were not dissimilar to those practised in the time of Pliny, and even down to the present day, except in the use of machinery and of ΤΥ ΡΥ explosives. We shall now describe some localities where mining ope…
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Iron (5773).—Though iron ore is more extensively diffused in the rocks than any other, it seems to have come into general use later than cop er, bronze, and tin. Iron ores are unknown in Dales tine, except at the southern base of the Lebanon (Porter in Smith’s DB ii. 87) and near Beirit ; erhaps it was from these depos…
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Elyot (Governour, i. 13) says that ‘in the message to kynge Pharo, Aaron rather as a ministre than a companyon wente with Moses.’ Tindale’s tr. of Mt 5* is ‘ Agre with thyne adver- sary quicklye . . . lest . . . the judge delivre the to the minister.’ Wyclif, who has ‘ minister’ very often for ‘officer,’ as Jn 25:9 7% …
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ians are the priests, their faith is the sacrifice, t. Paul’s life-blood is the accompanying libation’ (Lightfoot, in loco); and in Ro 15", though St. Paul is the sacrificing ἜΡεΣ he is so only figur- seer his priestly function is preaching the ospel, and the sacrifice is the believing Gentiles. ts uses elsewhere co…
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Besides λειτουργός and διάκονος there is in NT a third word still (RV) occasionally trans- lated ‘ minister,’ viz. ὑπηρέτης (-εῖν), lit. an ‘ under- rower’ in a galley, but used simply as ‘servant,’ and retaining no special connotation from its derivation, unless it be that of subordination. The verb is used of David’s…
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MINNITH (n3p).—1. Jephthah smote the Am- monites ‘from Aroer until thou come to Min- nith,’ Jg 118 (B ἄχρις ᾿Αρνών, A els Σεμωείθ, Luc. Σεμενείθ)Π. According to the Onomasticon (s.v. ‘Mennith’) it was shown 4 Roman miles from Heshbon on the road to Philadelphia, but the name has not been recovered in this direction, wh…
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Lightfoot (ii. 27) points out that the Vulgate renders the gate Miphkad as the gate of judgment: this may perhaps refer to the hall of judgment in the Pretorium, situated in later days in the Antonia, to the north of the temple, or it may refer to the east gate of the temple (Ezk 35-39, Jl 2, Mie 4%) overlooking the Va…
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3. Materialism, however, is not the last word of philosophy. It is inconsistent with any form of re- ligion, and need not be elaborately discussed here. All Theists recognize that the operation of spiritual forces is just as real, just as familiar, an experi- ence as the operation of material forces. An obvious illustr…
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6. There is, however, a form of Spinoza’s argu- ment which has more plausibility than that just considered, based as the latter is on a palpable logical fallacy. For it may be argued that miracles are contrary to the very conception of God as the All-Wise. A miracle would be an introduction of disorder into that creati…
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8. There prevails, however, at the present day a widespread dislike to any conception which in- volves a break in the continuity of the physical order, and thus yarious hypotheses have been pro- posed, according to which miracles may be made to appear more or less ‘natural.’ Indeed, ‘natural law in the spiritual world’…
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* Jellett, Aficacy of Prayer, p, 166, MIRACLE to maintain that a single outlying point can be treated as lying on a continuous curve in its neighbourhood. But, in spite of the apparent absurdity, nothing is more certain than that it can be so treated. A curve, which to the eye appears to be discontinuous and broken, …
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12. Further, the wholesome consciousness of the limitations of our knowledge will prevent us from describing miracles as ‘ violations of law,’ a phrase too commonly used, without any clear conception of the meaning of the words employed. If law bere means ‘law of the universe,’ of that sum of existence which includes G…
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44. Weare thus led round again to the conclusion that the true miracle, which shall enable us to see the finger of God in the matter, must be more than a wonder. The word τέρας is never used in the NT of a miracle, save in connexion with another word, viz. σημεῖον. Ὁ The miracles of Christ are not only wonders; that wo…
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16. It may be asked at this point (and the question demands an answer), If miracles are not impossible, can it be said that anything is im- possible ? Has the word impossibility any mea”- ing, if the possibility of interruptions of t» ordinary course of nature, of breaches of the lay of physical continuity, be admitted…
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In his famous essay on Miracles, Hume took up the remarkable position, that even if miracles happened, their occurrence could not be established by testimony ; for, without troubling ourselves with any metaphysical discussion about their objective * Religion innerhalb der Grenson der blossen Vernunf?, p. 99, ed. Rosen…
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‘Hume's argument is far from being conclusive when the existence of a Being who created the present order of nature, and therefore nay well be thought to have power to modify it, is accepted as a fact, or even as a probability resting on in- dependent evidence. Once admit a God, and the production by His direct volitio…
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Butler takes a different view, and his position is worthy of scrutiny. His words are as fol- lows ἵ :— ‘There is a very strong presumption against common specu- lative truths and against the most ordinary facts, before the roof of them, which yet is overcome by almost any proof. here is a presumption of millions to o…
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* Miracles, p. 102. It is espectally the fault of the apologetic writers of the 18th cent. that they neglected this considera- tion. Itisa fault from which Paley is not entirely free, but it Appears most pisinly in books like Sherlock's Trial of the Wit- Ms nesses, which once had a wide vogue. t See Westcott, Gospel …
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3. A miracle is not only a display of thau- maturgic power. This enables us to answer an objection raised by Matthew Arnold, who asked what possible evidence of authority would be shown by a man’s turning a pen into a penwiper before our eyes.t And truly the answer is, None whatever! But then this applies only to mirac…
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5. It has been already pointed out (ii. ὃ 6) that miracles are not represented in the Gospels as sufficient of themselves in all cases to generate conviction. ‘Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on Him’ (Jn 1237), All the spectators at the Raising of Lazarus were not persuaded of the cl…
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remarkable economy in its exercise, the reasons for which we cannot fully comprehend. 8. There is, indeed, an intimate connexion be- Here, however, we το τω τὺ with great caution. * Cf. Mozley, 1.6. p. 168. + This train of thought ts carefully worked ont in Mason's Conditions of our Lord's Lifeon Earth, pp. 9 ff. 1…
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5. Classifications, more or less instructive, of the miracles of Christ, have often been drawn up.§ We can here only briefly indicate their general character in respect of their claim to be regarded as due to power other than that of the ordinary forces of nature, as known or as conceivable to us. (a) There are, first,…
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* All through, however, we must bear in mind that it is not the anomalousness of the resurrection of Christ which is the significant matter. ‘It is quite possible that our Lord’s resur- rection may be found hereafter to be no miracle at all in the scientific sense. It foreshadows and begins the general resur- rection ;…
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9. We may now turn back to the miracles οὗ the Gospel. They fall into line at once, if the miracle of the resurrection is a fact; they become σημεῖα and ἔργα (as they are represented by St. John to be) of the Christ. The evidence for ἐξ is, prima facie, evidence for them. ‘True it is that St. Paul does not mention them…
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41. This was the theory of Strauss; but it is not tenable, for this reason, among others, that the interval of time which elapsed between the death of Christ and the composition of the records which described Him as a superhuman personage is not long enough to account for such legendary develop- ments. The evidence is …
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MIRACLE MIRACLE 393 if it be a fact that the law was a παιδαγωγὸς els Χριστόν, and that Israel was chosen by the Almighty as His instrument for the teaching of the world, then it ceases to be @ priori improbable that, at exceptional crises in the history of the Hebrews, special manifestations of Divine power might be…
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On the whole, then, while we maintain that the history of the Jews cannot be truly interpreted unless the special intervention of Providence in many a crisis of their national life be discerned, and while we distinctly recognize the miraculous nature of the Messianic prophecies of the OT, and are not slow to accept the…
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3. Next, it is important to note that the early Fathers, although seeing the miraculous in the incidents of their daily life, place the miracles of the apostolic age on a pinnacle quite above the miracles of their own time. When we go to the 4th cent., we find Chrysostom saying that ‘all the men of his time together’ c…
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7. This same law of Divine economy will bid us also to exclude from the category of miracles such events as may reasonably be referred to natural causes. Visions or voices which may be resolved into false perceptions or deceptions of the senses must be so classed. The extraordinary phenomena which are recorded as havin…
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Lirerature.—The subject has been treated by innumerable writers, but the following books are among the most important, and are easily accessible: Origen, contra Celsum; St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, τ. ex. ; Spinoza, Tractatus Theo- logico-politicus, de miraculis (on the negative side); Pascal, Pensées ; Butler…
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Our knowledge of ancient mirrors is derived (a) from literary notices, and (b) from actual speci- mens that haye been preserved. (a) Under the first head we note only references to material, manufacture, and the like. Pliny (Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 26) describes what seems to have been an attempt to make glass mirrors at Si…
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uoted Chrysostom, Theodoret, Luther, Bengel, illroth, Olshausen, and, more recently, Schmiedel, and Mayor (on Ja 1%). The old rendering ‘ be- holding” is supported by Grimm, Winer, Meyer, Heinrici, Beet, and Denney, and should, we think, be preferred. The idea of ‘reflexion’ does not accord well either with the contex…
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Most probably we should revert to a sugges- tion of Thomson (Land and Book, ch. xv.), who identified it with Musheirifeh or ‘Ain Meserfi, a site on the coast, S. of Ras en-Nakhurah or the Pedder of Tyre (Seetzen, ii. 109; Scholz, Reise, 54). This position would agree much better than Zarephath with the only other pas…
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MIXED MULTITUDE Third Missionary Journey had arrived at Troas from rhilippi, and, after a week’s stay at the former place, had preferred travelling by land to Assos, while the ship rounded the promontory of Lectum and picked him up on its 8. voyage. His motive for going by land may have been to remain longer with the …
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It is possible that we ought to understand the word in this second sense in Ps 42°, the reference being to Zion, ‘the little mountain,’ in contrast to the giant Hermon (so Smend, Wellhausen, Sieg- fried-Stade).§ The Psalm may be the expression of the feelings of an Israelite, who, when he has reached the northern bound…
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+ Neither ἘΠῚ: nor 75sD is necessarily a watch-tower; ‘D= ‘place of watching,’ which may have been merely a hill. Mizpeh of Gilead, Shiloh, Benjamin, and Moab, are given under the names of Mac¢d, Μασσηφά, and Μασσηφάθ. But Mizpah of Gilead is once translated as ‘the watch-tower,’ and Mizpah of Benjamin is given (in 2 …
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2. Mizpah (npypn).—The events related in Jg 19 to 21 concerning the extermination of all the Benjamites save 600 by united Israel, though placed chronologically after the time of the Judges, are, from the mention of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (20%), usually considered (so far as the account is historical) to have …
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At the time οἱ the rebuilding of the temple the district of Mizpah and men of intiipal are spoken of, and it is alluded to as ‘the seat of the governor on this side the river’ (Neh 37. The account (in Jer 41) of the pilgrims who were met by Ishmael out of Mizpah on their way southward from She- chem, Shiloh, and Samari…
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MOAB, MOABITES (in MT ‘ Moab’ is 3x0; on Moabite Stone 2x; LXX Μωαβ, ἡ Μωαβεῖτις, -βῖτις ; Josephus, Μώαβος; Vulg. Moab; ‘Moabite(s)’ ia MOAB, MOABITES 3 ΝῸ, '2KD, anid ya; LXX Μωαβείτης, -Slrns; Vulg. Moabita; Assyt. Ma’aba, Ma’bu, Mw dba).— i. The Name. iv. The Religion. v. People and History. Literature. i. NA…
918 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical reference work (1898–1905); OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.